Charlie Gillett, a British journalist, loves the music, and his passion is evident throughout The Sound of the City. Yet the greatest strength of the book is the way Gillett tracks the resistance of the music industry to early rock-and-roll, which was followed (needless to say) by a frantic rush to engulf and devour it.


When first published 'The Sound of the City' was hailed as "has never been bettered as the definitive history of rock" (The Guardian'). Now the classic history of rock and roll, has been revised and updated with over 75 historic archive photos. The text has been substantially revised to include newly discovered information and it is now "the one essential work about the history of rock n' roll" (Jon Landau in 'Rolling Stone').